When Obamacare was passed years ago, it included all sorts of things. One of them is the 3.8% surtax on investment income for those in the top brackets. It's a tax that affects few people, and they are all very wealthy. Still, for one of those people who have investment income of $5 million this year, this tax alone would cost the taxpayer nearly $200,000. That raises a simple question: now that Obamacare has been declared unconstitutional in total, must anyone still pay this tax?
This is not a meaningless question. The Net Investment Income Tax (the formal name for this tax) brings in many tens of billions of dollars each year to the Treasury. Of course, if Obamacare falls, then the billions spent on subsidies will also fall, so the lost revenues will be offset by lower expenses.
Right now, the law still stands because the court ruling is not effective to bring down Obamacare yet. If the Supreme Court ultimately affirms this ruling, however, it seems right that anyone who has paid this tax would be able to file an amended return to seek it back from the government. There is no way that a court would allow the government to collect and keep an unconstitutional tax.
This is not a meaningless question. The Net Investment Income Tax (the formal name for this tax) brings in many tens of billions of dollars each year to the Treasury. Of course, if Obamacare falls, then the billions spent on subsidies will also fall, so the lost revenues will be offset by lower expenses.
Right now, the law still stands because the court ruling is not effective to bring down Obamacare yet. If the Supreme Court ultimately affirms this ruling, however, it seems right that anyone who has paid this tax would be able to file an amended return to seek it back from the government. There is no way that a court would allow the government to collect and keep an unconstitutional tax.
No comments:
Post a Comment